Cap-retainer for deformable tubes, &amp;c.



C. CLARK.

CAP RETAINER FOR DEFORMABLE TUBES, 8w.

APPLICATION HLED AUG.27. 1915.

l a 1 Q, 5 Q9 Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

W/TNE55 G i CHARLES CLARK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T6 CAP-HOLD, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' CAP-RETAINER FOR DEFORMABLE TUBES, &c.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Jan, 2, 10917 Application filed. August 27, 1915. Serial No.47,586.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES CLARK, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan ofthe city of New York, in the county of New York, in the State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gap-Retainers for Deformable Tubes, &c., of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part thereof.

The use of deformable tubes and vsimilar receptacles for the dispensingof toilet lotions has greatly increased recently andthe favor with whichthey have been received by the public has led the manufacturers to makeevery effort to meet every objection, no matter how slight, to theiruse. As will be appreciated, these tubes are most widely used aroundbasins or other bath fixtures where there is running water and it hasbeen found, as is natural, that the relatively small cap which isthreaded on to the neck of the tube is apt to slip from the fingers ofthe user and drop into the trap from where it may be carried out throughthe drain or may'become lodged in such a position as to be unrecoverableand, at the same time, a serious obstruction to the drain. Again, evenif the cap does not drop into a trap, it remains a constant source ofannoyance to the user it must be handled with some care or it will slipfrom the fingers and perhaps roll along the floor to somewhatinaccessible places from which it can often be recovered only by theexercise of great agility. Not only has the liability to loss and theannoyance incidental to the dropping of the cap made it necessary forsome means to be employed to overcome these objections, but the firstprinciples of hygiene require that the cap should be protected againstcontact with the floor, drain and other places where it might pick updirt or bacteria dangerous to health. It has been proposed to secure thecap directly to the neck of deformable tubes, etc., by means of ahinge-joint but this construction is unsatisfactory because of itsprohibitive expense and because the hinge-joint becomes clogged with thecontents of the tube. This construction has a further objection thatthecontents of the tube are not held against leakage as it has been foundnecessary to employ a screw cap to insure tight connection around thelip of the neck. It has been proposed by others to enlarge the caps ofthese deformable tubes to a point where they cannot, by reason of theirbulk, slip through the ordinary trap in the drain of a basin. Obviously,this expedient entails a very considerable expense through the provisionof additional metal and fails to meet the primary objectioninasmuch asit does not prevent the cap from being dropped by the user.

The present invention has for its object to overcome the difficultiespointed out above and to afford a practical solution of the problem byproviding a retainer for the caps of deformable tubes which shall beinexpensive, shall be readily applicable to any cap of any tube andshall possess the function of cleaning the threads on the neck of thetube whenever the cap is removed or replaced whereby the contents of thetube are prevented from clogging on the neck and the cap is made toscrew on and off at all times without difficulty.

In accordance with the invention the cap has secured thereto a coil ofwire or band which encircles the same and is pinched thereon and thiscoil or band has an eye through which passes another coil of wire orband which is passed around the neck of the tube and rests snugly withinthe threadsthereof so that this last named coil can be threaded on andoff the neck in much the same manner that the cap is threaded on andoff. The two coils or hands described are loosely interconnected throughthe eye referred to so that when the cap is removed from the neck it ispermitted to hang freely from the coil or band on the neck andpreferably at such a distance from the neck that it may be pressed outof the path. of the contents of the tube when the latter are discharged, as by a tooth brush, shaving brush, etc. By the constructiondescribed, it will be understood that rotation of the band or coil onthe neck along the threads thereof, whenever the cap is removed orreplaced, serves to clean the threads and remove all paste or the liketherefrom and thereby facilitate the subsequent removal or replacementof the cap.

Other features of the invention will appear in connection with thedetailed description of the accompanying drawings in which areillustrated several embodiments of the invention.

In lhd drawings Figure l is a View in elevation of a portion of adeformable tube on which is threaded a cap provided with a retainerconstructed in accordance with tin present invention. Fig. 2 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1, but showing the cap reminted. Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1, but showing a slightly different form of retainer.Fig. 4 is a detail view of an integral coil of wire constituting onepart of the retainer shown .in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view showing stillanother form of retainer. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one part of theretainer shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view showing another form ofretainer in which a band is used instead of a coil of wire. Fig. t; is adetail view of the band shown in Fig.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a deformable tube A, of usual construction, has securedthereon a threaded neck a through which the contents of-the tube aredischarged by pressure on the walls of the tube, as will be understood,and on which is threaded a cap 6 for the purpose of effecting a liquidtight closure of the neck. The improved retainer has, as one of itsfeatures, the adaptability of application to deformable vessels of anyusual construction, so that the character of the vessels themselves neednot be changed but the improved retainer may be applied readily to allvesmls which any manufac turer may have in stock. Of course, inpractice, the improved retainers will usually be applied at the time thevessels are manufactured, thereby saving a. separate handling thereof.In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the retainer comprisestwo portions, one of which is formed as a coil of wire a which is passedsnugly around the cap 6 and twisted adjacent its middle to form an eye aand at its ends to press against the cap, as at 0 The other part of theimproved retainer is formed by passing a wire (Z through the eye 0 andtwisting the wire so as to form therein an eye a" and then passing thewire snugly around the threaded neck a1 and. twisting the free ends, asat (Z so as to maintain the wire in snug engagement with the neck. lVhenthe cap Z) is in position, the coil 1;? is threaded down on the neckwith the'cap so as to lie in the very bottom-most thread and whenthe-cap is unscrewed, the coil 03 rotates with th cap and is threadedalong the threads of the neck until the cap is released and assumes theposition indicated in Fig. 2/ By reason of this movement of the wires 0and (Z with the cap 6, the threads of the neck are thoroughly cleanedwhenever the cap is re-' moved or replaced so that it becomes impossihlefor the pasty contents of the vessel to clog and harden around the neck,as is usual in vessels of this character. As soon as the cap is releasedfrom the neck it is permitted to drop freely by reason of the looseengagement of the Wires 0 0? through the eyes a (.Z. These eyes areformed at such distance from the cap and neck, respectively, as topermit the cap to remain suspended at an appreciable distance from theneck so that it will not interfere with the free discharge of materialsand, indeed, may be pushed aside by a tooth brush, shaving brush, etc. ir

- In Figs. 3 and 4 there is illustrated a. slightly difi'erent form ofretainer in which the interengaging coils of wire C D have their endswelded so as to form two separate integral coils of wire which areintended to be pressed on to the cap 6 and fitted on to the neck of thevessel A at the time when the latter is manufactured.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a somewhat dift'erent form of retainerin which the coils of wire C" D? are neither integral, respectively, nortwisted at their free ends, but, on the contrary, have their free endsopen so that the encircling coils are formed somewhat as eyes. Thisconstruction'may be more satisfactory under some circumstances.

In Fi s. 7 and 8 there is illustrated what is proba ly a moresightlyfomi of retainer? in which the coils e f are formed as integralbands of metal intended to be pressed around the cap B and the neck a.of the vessel A, respectively, and engaged with each other by eyes e andf. In this form, the metal bands are mamtained in fixed shape by meansof small metal straps g passed around them between the eyes e f and thecoils e' f, respectively.

In each of the modified constructions illustrated in Figs. 38, theretainers are afiixed to the neck of the vessel and the cap spect toigs. 1 and 2 and the operation in each instance is the'same so that allof the advantages pointed'out with respect to the embodiment shown inFigs. 1 and 2 are common to the remaining forms of retainers.

It'will be evident to those skilled in the art, especially afterconsidering the problem which this invention is intended to meet, thatretainers of the same general character as those illustrated but ofdilferent construction mechanically, may be employed to advantagewithout departing mm the scope of the invention provided suchmodifications fall within the terms of the appended claims.

. I claim as my invention 1-- 1. In combination with a vessel having athreaded neck and a threaded cap therefor, a retainer for the capcomprising a band ,110 in exactl the manner described with reencirclingthe neck of the essel and loosely engaging the threads thereof below thecap,

and a link secured to the cap to be non-- rotatable with relationthereto and engaged loosely by the band whereby rotation of the capcauses rotation of the link and rotation of the hand along the threads.

2. A retainer for the threaded cap of a vessel comprising a hand securedto the cap to be nonrotatable.with relation thereto, and another bandencircling the neck of the vessel and loosely engaging the threadsthereof below the cap, said bands having a pivotal engagement with eachother Whereby rotation of the cap causes rotation of 15 thereof belowthe cap, said bands having interengaging eyes formed thereinrespectively whereby rotation of the cap causes rotation of both of saidhands.

This specification signed this 24th da of August A. D., 1915.

I CHARLES CLARK.

20 vessel and loosely engaging the threads

